ONE WORLD RELIGION CAMPAIGN: Pope Francis Prays In Mosque, Head Bowed toward Mecca

Pope Francis In Turkey, Prays At Blue Mosque

With his head bowed toward Mecca, Pope Francis, the pontiff of the 1.2-billion strong Roman Catholic faith, showed his genuine solidarity with Islam religion, often ridiculed and described as culprit of most of the world's present acts of terrorism.

For two minutes, Pope Francis, who took off his shoes, prayed silently in the 17th-century Sultan Ahmet mosque on Saturday. Beside him was Rahmi Yaran, the Grand Mufti of Istanbul. Yaran told the Pope later that "may God accept" their joint "moment of silent adoration." The Ahmet Mosque is known as the Blue Mosque. Pope Francis was clearly in awe of the mosque as Yaran gave him a tour.

The pope's gesture, made on the second day of his three-day Turkey visit, was clearly to promote Christian-Muslim relations. As the Muslim call to prayer rang out across the Sultanahmet square, school children waving Turkish and Vatican flags chanted "Long live Pope Francis" in Italian.